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“Every crack is also an opening. When in the midst of great change, it is helpful to remember how a chick is born. From the view of the chick, it is a terrifying struggle. Confined and curled in a dark shell, half-formed, the chick eats all its food and stretches to the contours of its shell. It begins to feel hungry and cramped. Eventually, the chick begins to starve and feels suffocated by the ever-shrinking space of its world. Finally, its own growth begins to crack the shell, and the world as the chick knows it is coming to an end. Its sky is falling. As the chick wriggles through the cracks, it begins to eat its shell. In that moment—growing but fragile, starving and cramped, its world breaking—the chick must feel like it is dying. Yet once everything it has relied on falls away, the chick is born. It doesn’t die, but falls into the world.” ― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

This quote is huge, and this book is quite a collection if you are looking for a bit of inspiration or just a different viewpoint that might provide some clarity in your life. The one thing we can be sure of in our lives is that there will be challenges. You can look at these in a multitude of ways, but objectivity (the state or quality of being true even outside of a subject’s individual biases) when you are talking about your life is very challenging since you are the subject. Subjectivity is the polar opposite (a subject’s personal perspective, feelings, beliefs, desires or discovery.) Stepping outside of your own thoughts, and viewing your situation from a 10,000 foot view can be very beneficial.

If that thing in your life, that sore that you see, was the exact path to your glory, would you look at it differently? I would. I, for sure, would. Step outside of subjectivity, and embrace a little objectivity. There are many quotes and books about this subject. What I mean is the “your pain is your freedom” type of thing. “The Obstacle is the Way” is a popular book referencing this phenomenon, as well.

We are here to progress. We are here to grow. We are here to evolve. We must. Being fluid amongst changes is life is highly beneficial. On the contrary, trying to remain rigid in your ways will lead to disconnect. Inherent in evolution is a natural objectivity to circumstance. But, we are full of subjectivity. So, how does this work? Evolution is about adaptation to constantly changing inputs and to remain consistent in our ability to provide output. The great thing about our bodies is they are made to adapt to changes. Sometimes we have to help our mind keep up. It’s easy to sit back and rest on our past experiences and close our minds off to learning and growth. But, let me tell you this doesn’t go anywhere.

If you can just see things a tad differently, exponential glory is right at your doorstep. If the challenges in this life are viewed as opportunities for complete domination, it becomes a game. This ominous struggle becomes quite navigable. Accept that who you are and where you are as where you should be. Now, find some problems and go solve them. Do one a week, or two a week. It won’t be long until you feel some momentum. Then, as Nepo says, “once everything you have relied on falls away” you will realize that you are now living. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself in a new place, with some new challenges ( and a new shell to crack your way out of).

Danny Lesslie

@dannylesslie

9/29/17 WOD

Not many people get to drop that epic line. While this service, usually reserved for famous actors or sports stars, may seem pretentious, there are some important qualities that the non-famous, anti-jocks of the world can benefit from. What I am talking about is advocacy.Think about what an agent does. The agent’s value b ...

I've picked up the phone nearly a thousand times with the following words: "Thanks for calling DEUCE Gym, this is Logan. How can I help you?" For what feels like nearly half of those times, the voice on the other end jumps to the chase:"How much is unlimited?"I know that the rest of the team here at DEUCE has had a similar ...

**The following is an excerpt from Week 12 - Building the Standard: Scaling For Relative Intensity of Coach's Prep 101, our online coach's development course** We’re now getting into the action of on the floor coaching with this notion of “building the standard”. If you’ve spent any amount of time in the curren ...

When you go to buy a car, you have options. From the color to the drive train, you can make a selection largely based on preference. The same is true for a quick trip to your favorite smoothie shack. If you prefer the rich cacao, peanut buttery one, you can have it. If you’re more of the blueberry and banana-type, you can ...

Our friends in Houston, Texas are suffering from a catastrophic once-in-a-thousand-year storm. With more that fifty-two inches of rain, the city is overwhelmed and we want to help. Part of the destruction includes dozens of community based gyms just like DEUCE who will not being able to return to business without outside he ...

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." - EpictetusThe famous scholar, Umberto Eco, has a personal library of more than thirty thousand books. That's not a typo. It's rumored that he mentally places visitors to his home into two categories. The first category includes the folks who come to his ...

Over the last several years, I've become increasingly obsessive of high performers. I want to be around it. I want to know it and live it. In an effort to do so, and to create some remarkable memories along the way, I've started a habit when overseas. You see, the Michelin group put the United States on timeout because we c ...

A large part of our coaching responsibility in class is creating a context around the day. The workout of the day can be applied to each athlete, but it may look very different to the untrained eye. The key to the whole equation is the relative fitness of each athlete. Each person has the need to squat. It's easy to imagine ...

With attendees from Mallorca, Hong Kong, Helsinki, and beyond, the Hold the Standard Summit in Barcelona, Spain was a raging success. For two days I was able to volley back and forth between big picture academic concepts and specific tried-and-true DEUCE Gym principles to share our method with a motivated group of leaders f ...